A wildfire broke out in Prospect Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, on Friday evening, amid a drought that has been ravaging the northeastern US for weeks.
The New York City Fire Department reported the fire on X around 8 p.m. Shortly afterward, units said they were using drone technology to find hotspots.
“The fire is under control and there are some warmer spots,” FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker said at a news conference.
Firefighters would be at Prospect Park all night to ensure the fire is under control and that no blaze is ignited by wind-blown embers, Tucker said.
The fire occurred in an “extremely dense” part of Prospect Park on a hill, and there were no buildings nearby that could be threatened, he said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. NBC New York reported that there were no injuries.
“Daylight will help us determine the cause and origin of this fire,” Tucker said.
The fire highlights the danger of the drought, and officials thanked the person who spotted the fire and called authorities.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said in an X-post on Friday that his office was monitoring the fire and that the FDNY, NYC Emergency Management and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation were on scene.
The latest fire comes amid a weeks-long drought in the Northeast caused by dry and unusually warm conditions. A number of fires have broken out in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and windy conditions are increasing the fire risk in the region.
Temperatures rose well above normal on Thursday, the National Weather Service office in New York said. The cooling forecast starting late Friday was expected to drop temperatures to “around normal” on Saturday.
The FDNY said Friday that New York City was under a drought watch “due to a historic lack of rainfall.”
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, October was one of the driest months on record in the US, especially in the Northeast. Cities like Philadelphia; Newark, NJ; Wilmington, Delaware; and Norfolk, Virginia, recorded no rain that month, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, which collects precipitation data from more than 1,400 weather stations across the country.
The entire New York City region was under a red flag warning Friday, the weather service said, with gusts of up to 30 miles per hour possible. The agency warned that “fires can start and spread quickly” and “avoid any outdoor burning.”
The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services said that “a combination of high winds, low relative humidity and dry fuels will significantly increase the potential for fire growth.”
In an X post Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged New Yorkers to “stay vigilant” and call 911 in the event of a fire.
“Any fire that sparks will catch and spread quickly under these conditions,” the post said.
Prospect Park, with Grand Army Plaza and the stately Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at the north entrance, spans 526 acres, from the Park Slope and Prospect Heights neighborhoods to Windsor Terrace and Flatbush. It has a zoo and an ice rink among its facilities.
Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue called the park “an incredible resource for the community” and a crucial urban forest.
“It is the oldest surviving forest in Brooklyn, an incredible asset to the community. They are the lungs of the city,” she said at the press conference.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
